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Thursday, 27 October 2016

Memories of a beloved queen

The Queen unveils a statue of her mother on a visit to Poundbury

(photo credit The Royal Family Twitter)

The Queen and the Prince of Wales have shared memories of a woman they loved and admired. As they carried out a joint engagement in Poundbury with the Duke of Edinburgh and the Duchess of Cornwall, they remembered the Queen Mother. The beloved mother and grandmother was being commemorated in statue form. But the joy she gave her daughter and grandson was evident in their smiles and the moments when sadness crept into the memories. The woman who helped build the House of Windsor and the modern monarchy left a mark on her country's history but on a personal level in the lives of those she loved and who loved her back.

The statue of the Queen Mother will stand in a square in Poundbury named in her honour. The village was designed by the Prince of Wales following an idea which began in the 1980s. Charles dreamed of making a model village and now, as that dream becomes an ever growing reality, the grandmother we know he loved so dearly stands at its very heart.

Queen Mother Square in Poundbury contains both homes and businesses and the royal visitors got a chance to pop into many of them during their time in the village (you can click here to see the Queen in a supermarket, you know you want to, don't be proud). And at the very centre is a bronze statue, measuring 9 feet 6 inches, of the first queen of the House of Windsor to bear the name Elizabeth. It's by sculptor, Philip Jackson, and it's a second casting of a statute in the Mall which depicts her at the age of 51, as her husband's reign was coming to an end.

The Prince of Wales' voice was filled with emotion as he turned to his own mother with the words"It is with immense pride and in loving memory of my darling grandmother that I invite your Majesty to unveil the statue of Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother and thus to declare open her square.'' The red curtain fell and that familiar face appeared, the statue taking its place in the area dedicated to a grandmother by a devoted grandson.

Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother was still alive when her grandson dreamed up Poundbury and when her daughter last visited the vision as it took shape in 1998. Those days are gone and now all that remains are memories of a seismic figure in British royal history and a woman beloved by her family. But the joy that her family found in remembering her shows that her legacy will live on for many years.